Now I know everyone thought that the trip we're on just couldn't get any cooler (except Clint).
You were wrong. No hard feelings, though!
I'd been to the wrong side of the Iron Curtain once before (to Moscow and St. Pete). Where Moscow seems to be either embracing or at least wallowing in its Soviet past, Budapest is struggling against it (St. Petersburg, a more Western European city since its founding, seems to have bridged some sort of middle between Russia and the West but I never really got its full vibe).
Hungary is currently dominated (2/3 of its seats) by a right-wing party (Fidesz) that embraces the more radical elements of the US' GOP (and its #3 party is currently Neo-Nazis). It's a country that's fairly angry, sometimes xenophobic, and economically reeling from the 2008 recession (and is currently in a double-dip, like most of the rest of Europe). GDP/capita is stuck at $20k (where, say, Czech Republic's is $27k).
Budapest has few signs of its Soviet occupation--dreary concrete buildings, for example--but it does have some. Most of them seem to be tongue-in-cheek reminders of Communist oppression, including "MTV" (the Hungarian National Television), next to a "Liberation" monument erected by the Soviets in Liberty Square. Remember that this is a country that in 1956 staged a bloody uprising against the Soviets that left thousands killed--they never forgot it and are still (in their way) proud of it. To the north lie a few Soviet monuments that we didn't go see, but many of the rest were just plain torn down. Bullet holes can be found every now and then, though whether from WWII or 1956, I can't be sure.
(PICZ HERE)
With all that said, Budapest was very cool. Sadly, I think we took far too few pictures.
The food was super-yummy. The beer remained awful (sigh... but Prague is next!), and while the wine was quite hyped-up we never found anything we really fell in love with... certainly not in comparison to, say, French or Californian wines. But let's focus on the positives here. Food: if you love onions, meat, paprika, potatoes, and lard (and who besides vegetarians doesn't?), then you're going to love Hungarian food. Heather and I have decided our primary pleasure in tourism is food, and so we've picked some very good places to go; Hungary is no exception.
Hungarians apparently do not eat Hungarian food at restaurants much--not because it is not delicious, but apparently because everyone's Grandmother is individually the best cook in Hungary, so why eat out? We certainly found that this was the case with our wonderful hosts, Kamilla and Gabor. We don't have any pictures with them (why!?!!?) but let me tell you a bit about them:
1) Gabor's grandfather does indeed make the best Palinka (plum brandy, more or less) in all of Hungary, and they shared much of it with us at their house one night.
2) We got to go out with them two more times (three of seven nights; they are that cool), discussing all matter of topics from Hungarian & American politics (to which we were all in very close agreement, at least on the topics chosen), history, personal dreams, and etc.
In addition to homemade Palinka, we went to a bar that had some good (not great) craft brews from the Carpathian Basin (the area around Hungary). It was clear that the Craft Brew scene in Hungary is just starting up, but they're getting daring and the place we went was a pleasant epicenter of it.
The greatest nightlife we went to was the "Ruin Pubs." In fact, these are far and away the coolest pubs/clubs we have ever been to, without competition. The best was Szimpla (link goes to a Google Image search). These Ruin Pubs were built in the literal ruins of the Jewish Quarter (gutted by the Holocaust and abandoned by the Jews as quickly as possible--Hungary remains fairly anti-Semetic to this day) in only the last decade. This area is springing back up again with Budapest's own form of hipsters that are bringing incredible amounts of color, creativity, and charm to the area... and the Ruin Pubs are the pinnacle.
Much of the rest of Budapest's charm was in its architecture, layout, and monuments. Descriptions with pictures below.
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You were wrong. No hard feelings, though!
I'd been to the wrong side of the Iron Curtain once before (to Moscow and St. Pete). Where Moscow seems to be either embracing or at least wallowing in its Soviet past, Budapest is struggling against it (St. Petersburg, a more Western European city since its founding, seems to have bridged some sort of middle between Russia and the West but I never really got its full vibe).
Hungary is currently dominated (2/3 of its seats) by a right-wing party (Fidesz) that embraces the more radical elements of the US' GOP (and its #3 party is currently Neo-Nazis). It's a country that's fairly angry, sometimes xenophobic, and economically reeling from the 2008 recession (and is currently in a double-dip, like most of the rest of Europe). GDP/capita is stuck at $20k (where, say, Czech Republic's is $27k).
Budapest has few signs of its Soviet occupation--dreary concrete buildings, for example--but it does have some. Most of them seem to be tongue-in-cheek reminders of Communist oppression, including "MTV" (the Hungarian National Television), next to a "Liberation" monument erected by the Soviets in Liberty Square. Remember that this is a country that in 1956 staged a bloody uprising against the Soviets that left thousands killed--they never forgot it and are still (in their way) proud of it. To the north lie a few Soviet monuments that we didn't go see, but many of the rest were just plain torn down. Bullet holes can be found every now and then, though whether from WWII or 1956, I can't be sure.
(PICZ HERE)
With all that said, Budapest was very cool. Sadly, I think we took far too few pictures.
The food was super-yummy. The beer remained awful (sigh... but Prague is next!), and while the wine was quite hyped-up we never found anything we really fell in love with... certainly not in comparison to, say, French or Californian wines. But let's focus on the positives here. Food: if you love onions, meat, paprika, potatoes, and lard (and who besides vegetarians doesn't?), then you're going to love Hungarian food. Heather and I have decided our primary pleasure in tourism is food, and so we've picked some very good places to go; Hungary is no exception.
Heather enjoying "Reetesh"
Erik cooking Chicken Paprikash = Yum
At a Wine Tasting
Hungarians apparently do not eat Hungarian food at restaurants much--not because it is not delicious, but apparently because everyone's Grandmother is individually the best cook in Hungary, so why eat out? We certainly found that this was the case with our wonderful hosts, Kamilla and Gabor. We don't have any pictures with them (why!?!!?) but let me tell you a bit about them:
1) Gabor's grandfather does indeed make the best Palinka (plum brandy, more or less) in all of Hungary, and they shared much of it with us at their house one night.
2) We got to go out with them two more times (three of seven nights; they are that cool), discussing all matter of topics from Hungarian & American politics (to which we were all in very close agreement, at least on the topics chosen), history, personal dreams, and etc.
In addition to homemade Palinka, we went to a bar that had some good (not great) craft brews from the Carpathian Basin (the area around Hungary). It was clear that the Craft Brew scene in Hungary is just starting up, but they're getting daring and the place we went was a pleasant epicenter of it.
The greatest nightlife we went to was the "Ruin Pubs." In fact, these are far and away the coolest pubs/clubs we have ever been to, without competition. The best was Szimpla (link goes to a Google Image search). These Ruin Pubs were built in the literal ruins of the Jewish Quarter (gutted by the Holocaust and abandoned by the Jews as quickly as possible--Hungary remains fairly anti-Semetic to this day) in only the last decade. This area is springing back up again with Budapest's own form of hipsters that are bringing incredible amounts of color, creativity, and charm to the area... and the Ruin Pubs are the pinnacle.
The Jewish Quarter at Night
Entering a Ruin Pub
Panorama of a Szimpla
One section of the massive Szimpla
Another section of the massive Szimpla
Wine bar of Szimpla
Walking around Budapest we saw and heard some pretty marvelous street performers, focused primarily around violins and Roma music (surprised? I'm not). Below, a video of one of a few amazing groups:
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Neo-Classical Church
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Just a street--see the variations in architecture on the way down.
An old train station
Old baroque-ish period housing
A crazy old church, now a museum, near Corvin. Note the awesome rooftops, which are typical of Hungarian design.
Another church (neo-gothic?) near Corvin
The National Opera, at night. Quite gorgeous.
Hero's Square and the Millennium Monument. In the middle: the heroes. To the right and left: museums.
The founders of Hungary, a bunch of Central Asians (the "Margyar" tribe), in 896
Castle, built in 1896 on the park
Panorama from inside the castle
More inside the castle
More inside the castle
The reconstructed Buda palace, at night
Liberty Bridge, at night
Another awesome bridge, at night
The Chain Bridge
Note the actual chain links
Pest, from the top of Buda
Neat sculpture in the palace
Saint Istvan, first Christian king of Hungary
A truly unique church (not the colors & patterns) dedicated to St Matthias
St Matthias Church, on the outside
And, of course, Parliament. It's as gigantic as it looks and currently the actual parliament only uses 1/8th of it (remember it was built for the Imperial age)
Second-last of note: we saw a buncha bats at night, well-illuminated by the light below, swarming around what we must assume were bugs, and feeding. Was quite awesome and had us entranced for some time:
Finally: we found these crazy dudes here, in Milan, and even in Prague. I couldn't get their brochure they were handing out (which I decided to get only once I saw them in Prague and my curiosity proved overwhelming), but I'm wondering if someone knows who the heck these guys are. They all dress in pastel oranges and pinks and such, and walk around with a drum and they sing/dance and look like they're trying very hard to look happy. It's quite creepy:
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2 comments:
Dude, if you're going to post a picture of a church that says "Bigot Pavilion", you should at least provide a translation. :-)
Also, the orange cloaked cultists are almost certainly Hare Krishnas. Apparently, you are too young to remember them.
Heh. I think it's actually just a guy's name :)
I will look up this Hare Krishna. Yeah, means nothing to me yet...
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